Sleeve 1: Done-ish

Sleeve 1 just needs to have the tails weaved in, other than that it's looking pretty awesome!

Sleeve 2 is in progress now. I got through the cast on and bottom cuff pretty quickly today. I'm several rounds into the body and already I can see that there will be a difference in the stripes, they'll be thinner and it looks like there will be more of them winding around. I'm excited to see how it'll turn out!

Siren Sleeves Update

Still working on the first sleeve, having a knitting date with Theo tomorrow, hopefully she can at least explain to me what in the world I'll be doing for the "thumb gusset". I understand the words that I'm reading, I just have no idea how to actually put them into action. Otherwise, I'm having a lot of fun knitting these in the round.

I wasn't paying attention today while I was working on it, and I couldn't figure out why the needles were suddenly more awkward to hold than usual. I look down and I've got waaaaay too many stitches piling up--I had forgotten to re-introduce my free needle and was using two occupied needles to knit. Luckily, it was an easy fix (only working with 16 stitches per needle) because I hadn't gotten too far.

Crappy webcam pic aside, the spiral of colors is coming out nicer than I had expected! I can't wait to see what the other one will look like! I was going to say something else, but I forgot. Oh well.

For all you non-knitters, knitting with multiple double-pointed needles (or dpns) looks a little something like this:

I'm using four needles (3 to hold the stitches and one working needle), but it can go higher than that, depends on the project.

New yarn and 6 cast ons later...

Turns out my problem was DEFINITELY the yarn. It was way too slippery and couldn't hold the stitches in the gauge I was using and since I was at Micheal's with a friend yesterday (she was getting yarn and needles), I spotted some delicious new yarn and scooped it up. It's a worsted weight, not a sport weight, so the gloves will be a bit heavier than the pattern calls for, but the yarn is working fabulously and I haven't had any problems with it!

I did, however, how misunderstand stockinette stitches are done. Specifically, how "st st" is done in the round. At first, I thought st st was knit 1 purl 1, I was close but missing a crucial detail: in flat knitting, it's knit 1 row purl 1 row. The other thing I was missing was when working in the round, st st is accomplished simply by knitting. This only affected two of my rounds, and instead of taking out the two rounds, I left them in, planning on copying the "mistake" on the second glove. I have to say, I rather like the way that it looks leading into my st-st-only rounds. It gives me a very defined cuff, whereas the pattern calls for six rows of garter stitch (which in the round is knit 1 round, purl 1 round btw) and then start the st st which looks fine in the pictures the author included, but looks more like a detailing or embellishment than a cuff.

Cuff with slippery yarn

Cuff with new yarn!

Progress on the body in only a few hours

Now I know the pattern fits :)

Arrrg knitting!

Ok, so I started a project today (as a reward for being good at the doctor's office ;) ) that's going to eventually be fingerless gloves / arm warmers. I'm about to cast on for the third time. Yeah, very frustrated. I have no idea what my problem is, I don't know if it's the yarn I bought (I tried to follow the pattern and use a "sport" weight yarn, I have a softer, lighter yarn than worsted which is what I've been working with) not holding tight, if my stitches are too loose, if it's the fact that it's my first time with multiple double-pointed needles, if I'm giving up on the rounds too early and just need to do a few more before casting judgment on the work, or if I just need food and/or a nap.

I'm going to cast on 48 AGAIN and then have a freezy-pop before I go crazy.

The gloves will be sooooo pretty if I can just get the yarn to work with me!

Well, third cast on doesn't look too bad, we'll see how it goes...